When is Arbor Day? The origin and significance of Arbor Day

When is Arbor Day? Arbor Day is on March 12 of the Gregorian calendar every year. The resolution of the Arbor Day was adopted at the Sixth Session of the Standing Committee of the Fifth National People's Congress held on February 23, 1979. Its purpose is to encourage people of all ethnic groups across the country to plant trees, green the motherland, improve the environment, and benefit future generations.

"Arbor Day" is a festival stipulated by law in some countries to publicize the benefits of forests and mobilize the masses to participate in afforestation. According to the length of time, it can be divided into Tree Planting Day, Tree Planting Week or Tree Planting Month, collectively known as Arbor Day. Through this kind of activity, people's love for forests and afforestation will be stimulated, their understanding of the functions of forests will be improved, the greening of the land will be promoted, and the goals of loving and protecting forests, expanding forest resources and improving the ecological environment will be achieved. It is a festival set aside to mobilize the entire nation to plant trees. On February 23, 1979, the Sixth Session of the Standing Committee of the Fifth National People's Congress of my country decided to continue to designate March 12 as China's Arbor Day to encourage people of all ethnic groups across the country to plant trees, green the motherland, improve the environment, and benefit future generations.

The Origin of Arbor Day

March 12 is our own Arbor Day, and it is also the anniversary of Sun Yat-sen’s death. Mr. Sun Yat-sen attached great importance to forestry construction during his lifetime. When he was the provisional president of the Republic of China, he established the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, under which the Forestry Bureau was set up to be in charge of national forestry administrative affairs. In November 1914, the first Forest Law in my country's modern history was promulgated. In July 1915, the government stipulated that the Qingming Festival of each year would be designated as Arbor Day.

In February 1979, the Sixth Session of the Fifth National People's Congress Standing Committee, based on the proposal of the State Council, passed a resolution to designate March 12 as my country's Arbor Day. The significance of this resolution is to mobilize people of all ethnic groups across the country to actively plant trees and accelerate the pace of greening the motherland and various forestry construction. Designating the day of Sun Yat-sen's death as my country's Arbor Day is also to commemorate his great achievements and to symbolize that his unfulfilled wishes during his lifetime will be realized in New China and will be realized even better.

The significance of Arbor Day

Planting trees can not only green and beautify our homes, but also expand forest resources, prevent soil erosion, protect farmland, regulate the climate, and promote economic development. It is a grand project that benefits the present and future generations. In order to protect forestry resources, beautify the environment and maintain ecological balance, many countries in the world have established Arbor Day based on their own actual conditions. As people's environmental awareness continues to increase and they actively participate in afforestation activities, the environment in which we humans live will continue to improve.

Origin of Arbor Day

In ancient my country, there was a tradition of planting willows and trees during the Qingming Festival, and the modern Arbor Day was first initiated by the state of Nebraska in the United States. Before the 19th century, Nebraska was a bare wasteland with sparse trees and dry land. When the wind blew, yellow sand filled the sky and the people suffered greatly. In 1872, Julius Sterling Moulton, a famous American agronomist, proposed to establish Arbor Day in Nebraska to mobilize people to plant trees in a planned manner. At that time, the state agricultural bureau passed a resolution to adopt this proposal, and the governor personally designated the third Wednesday of April every year as Arbor Day. After this decision was made, millions of trees were planted that year. In the following 16 years, another 600 million trees were planted, finally turning 100,000 hectares of wilderness in Nebraska into dense forest. In order to recognize Morton's achievements, the state legislature officially designated April 22, Mr. Morton's birthday, as Arbor Day every year in 1885, and gave one day off.

In the United States, Arbor Day is a state holiday with no nationally recognized date. However, every year in April and May, every state in the United States organizes Arbor Day activities. For example, Rhode Island designates the second Friday in May each year as Arbor Day and has a one-day holiday. Other states have fixed dates, while others have the date of Arbor Day decided temporarily by the governor or other state government departments each year. Whenever Arbor Day comes, people from all walks of life, mainly students, form a huge army to plant trees and participate in the activities. According to statistics. One-third of the United States is covered by forests and trees, and this achievement is inseparable from Arbor Day.

Current Status of Arbor Day

According to statistics from the United Nations, more than 50 countries around the world have established Arbor Day. Due to different national conditions and geographical locations, the name and time of Arbor Day in each country are also different: Japan calls it "Tree Day" and "Greening Week"; Israel calls it "Tree New Year's Day"; Myanmar calls it "Tree Planting Month"; Yugoslavia calls it "Tree Planting Week"; Iceland calls it "Student Tree Planting Day"; India calls it "National Arbor Day"; France calls it "National Tree Day"; Canada calls it "Forest Week".